WARNING: The Following post contains some totally geeky bodywork stuff and jumping right in…

 

Chiropractors know that releasing soft tissue in conjunction with correcting joint mis-alignments allows the body to stay in alignment longer than without soft tissue release.

 

Massage therapists know that the muscles won’t loosen up if they are supporting a joint mis-alignment, and so mindful bodyworkers know that it is a marriage made in heaven to receive both joint balance and muscle balance at the same time, or as close to the same time as possible.

 

Unless you have a chiropractor who works inside your massage practice and schedule your treatments back to back, you probably won’t be able to gain the same amount of benefit that you would if your chiropractor is also a trained massage therapist, or vice versa. For many people, this combination of treatments is not feasible.

 

However, as MT’s we DO have tools available to us through continuing education. Through CE’s I have found the perfect way of helping set up the conditions for the body’s joints to move more toward neutral, by applying Ortho-Bionomy® techniques. Then, as a trained massage therapist, I can then reassess the tissue and soften any restricted tissue that might pull the joint back out of alignment.

 

What’s Ortho-Bionomy? GREAT question! It can be described in many different ways. It was founded by a British Osteopath, Arthur Lincoln Pauls, and is based off of Osteopathy. Osteopathy is a branch of medicine that believes the body will heal itself given the right conditions. Ortho-Bionomy® (O-B) is a system/modality of bodywork that sets up the conditions for the body to self-correct. Yes, I said SELF CORRECT.

 

The way my brain understands it is that O-B works on the level of the nervous system and the fascial (connective tissue) communication network. Parts of the system of this exquisite bodywork involves gentle positioning of the body, and engaging the tissues either energetically, or physically through traction or compression. It takes many hours of training to become proficient at applying the principles and techniques, but well worth the effort!

 

If you only know me through reading my blogs, you might think all my clients are black and blue when they leave my office, but that’s not usually the case. In fact because I use O-B techniques in my treatments, my clients experience MUCH LESS soreness than with just deep tissue techniques. They tell me all the time, “I thought I would be WAY more sore than I was.”

 

Learning to use the O-B principles has also changed the way I apply deep tissue techniques. Gone are the days of plowing through restrictions as a more ‘green’ deep tissue therapist. I now honor what the body is trying to support with that restriction, try to understand why it’s there, and figure out a way to relieve the CAUSE of the restriction (instead of just relieving the symptom). This is done through observing joint alignment, reading the body’s posture, asking questions about lifestyle, injuries, applying O-B, etc. Then as a last resort, going into the restriction if absolutely necessary to relieve the pain caused by restricted tissue.

 

In addition, because of Ortho-Bionomy training, when I apply the deep tissue techniques, it is done with more finesse. I go slower. I put my mind into the tissue and visualize it opening up and letting me in.   I move with the body more, and less against it. Work with nature, not against it. O-B has given me a vehicle with which to work WITH the natural rhythms and cycles of the body in order to help create a state for healing to occur.

 

Allowing joints to move toward neutral alignment through Ortho-Bionomy® techniques and combining that with adhesion release as needed has allowed my clients to stay pain free longer and has created a niche market for my practice.

 

For more information on Ortho-Bionomy® please visit www.ortho-bionomy.org

 

If you want to take classes in Indianapolis, contact the Carmel School of Massage & Healing Arts and visit our website at www.carmelschoolofmassage.com for our Ortho-Bionomy Class schedule.